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Re: We will go 8-8.

I predict two straight losses at Houston and Cleveland. We will beat the Raiders. Then, we will lose the last 5 of 7. That is my new close to midseason "doomsday" prediction.

EDIT: I also predict that Suggs will have little, if any impact on the D. I would not be entirely surprised if he ends up being IR'ed after a couple weeks of practice.

Wow, take all your money and bet with Las Vegas. Hope you make a lot of money. Whats your prediction for the skins?Truly amazing that you did this post. I think you just needed attention on this forum. I'll just wait for each game to happen and then see how the Ravens are doing on the field. I couldn't begin to call the whole season today, I much smarter then that given the way the whole NFL has played so far.
If you are wrong, maybe you should take a year off from this forum so you can get your thoughts together for 2014 season. If Ravens win 9 games or more, I hope people bring up this post to show what kind of fan you are(Ravens or Skins?).

Re: We will go 8-8.

I know I'm counted among the resident boo birds, but funny thing--I feel curiously upbeat about the rest of the season. Look at it this way:

The defense is now missing its first-ballot-HOF field general, the reigning DPOY, and one of the top young CBs in the league.

The offense is probably going to need to score points in bunches to keep the team in games, & while it has the hosses to do it, it has to do it with an OL consisting of 2 guys still learning their positions (Oher & KO) and 2 old guys who are an injury away from retirement.

I think we can all agree that the team is walking the cliff's edge right now: One more major injury (or, I hate to say it, Sizzle not making it back to playing condition this year) & they could easily go into freefall (remember 2007). And the so-called law of averages affords no protection--the chances of someone else getting hurt are pretty much the same as they were last Sunday morning.

But:

They're 5-1. Tied for the best record in the AFC, with a 2 game lead in the division. Even if they lose at Houston they will still go into the bye week a game ahead of one divisional rival and 2 or more games ahead of the others, and in line for the #2 seed.

IOW, they're playing with house money right now. They've suffered terrible adversity, and the "smart money" has already written the season off. But there is time to regroup, refigure, rededicate, while staying (mathematically at least) in the hunt for the postseason.

Can they do it? Can the underachievers elevate their games? Can real leaders step forward & guide them to do whatever it takes to win? Can the coaches get past any remaining preconceived notions & embrace whatever works??

I think the Ravens can still make it to the dance--10-6 ought to do it, & going 5-5 the rest of the way is a real possibility. (I don't know why I think that, but I just don't believe Harbaugh will allow a 2007-like collapse.) And then anything can happen. (And yeah, you might construe that as "whistling past the graveyard"--but in the current state of affairs, what's the alternative?)

Even if this season goes down the tubes, it won't be lost: We will learn so much more about what sort of team this is, what sort of players they have (& what sort they need to find), & how to reinvent it going forward.

For Ravens fans who can accept the adversity & put their disappointment behind them, it's gonna be a helluvan interesting ride.

I'm inclined to agree with everything you said. It's funny, after the injuries were announced, I didn't feel anything. Then, it hit me. I have absolutely no expectations for the rest of the season. Now, I know some people would say that's a horrible attitude to take. As a fan though, it's great! I get to watch and analyze Raven's football without having the need to get blind drunk by the end of the first quarter.

If our season does go down the tubes, hey we needed to fire some people and rebuild the D anyway, so all is not lost.

Look, if this team isn't able overcome this then the front office hasn't done its job. With the exception if QB, no one injury should be able to derail a good football team. Heck, sometimes losing your QB doesn't even derail things that badly as evidenced by the Texans and Matt Schaub last season and to a large extent the Ravens and McNair/Boller/Troy Smith in 08.

Re: We will go 8-8.

I see this season divided into thirds. We just fnished the first 3rd, going 5-1 with 4 of 6 at home against average opponents. The 2nd 3rd that we are heading into we have 4 out of 5 on the road with some tough opponents. I think we could go 2-3 in those 5 games. Then the final 3rd, with 3 out of 5 at home with some tough opponents, We will probably win 3 of those 5 and finish 10-6. I would have picked them to win 2 more games than that if not for all of the injuries.

Re: We will go 8-8.

We lost two good players. That said we have a first round pick in Jimmy Smith that played very well last week against some decent receivers and the drop from Ray to Ellerbe is significant but not nearly as much as it would have been a few years back IMO. Add that your gonna get Suggs back and if he has any impact at all I really believe the D will improve overall. Obviously not as much as getting Suggs back and having Ray and Webby on the field but still improve none the less.

To many doomsayers. Now that said if Sizzle comes back and can provide nothing or if Ngata is severely limited due to his injury then things change. I think they can overcome the loss of Webb and Lewis so long as the rest of the roster can maintain a reasonable level of health.

“A linebacker's job is to knock out running backs, to knock out receivers, to chase the football,”
-Ray Lewis

Re: We will go 8-8.

I do not come on this board as often as I used to and mainly due to posts such as this. While it is your opinion and I respect it and do not think you are trolling I think that it is incorrect and premature in its nature.
I honestly do not know how a debate of the broncos came up but I think that the ravens are the better and more consistent team even with the defense injury ridden. Our offensive line while inconsistent at times faired well against a Dallas passrush who in my opinion has a better pass rush than Denver. Ware was held to only one sack and already has 6 on the season.
The Webb injury hurts more than the Lewis injury simply due to the fact that he was the best on the team at his position. At this point in Lewis' career that cannot be said. The biggest thing that the defense will be missing is his knowledge and ability to call audibles and make defensive adjustments. I do not think that anyone can disagree that our line backing core now has more athletic ability and speed with Lewis out.( After I heard that he was out for the season I was hurt and nearly physically ill) The play of Jimmy Smith and Chykie Brown show signs of encouragement that there will not be as big of a drop off as originally expected.
I still have extremely high expectation for this team, I expect adjustments to be made on defense and I expect th offensive line to continue to progress which will help our offense become more consistent. This is Flacco's time to prove that he was as good as he thinks he is with the defense playing as poorly as it has been.

Re: We will go 8-8.

Well, I'm back to eat my words. I'm not here to change my prediction... I said 8-8. I had the Browns game slated as a loss. And while 8-8 was not very likely if you were a betting man when I said it 3 weeks ago, it's highly unlikely now. We could go 9-7 and more likely 10-6. However, if we somehow lose to the Raiders... 8-8 is still in play. I don't see that happening. I'm predicting a pretty dominating victory. But, there is always that scenario were it close be a game and the Ravens look unimpressive for the majority of the game, outside of a few nice drives. But, I don't see them getting beat by a bad team at home. I just don't understand how this offense can drive the ball 80-90 yards 3 times for TDs, and go 3 and out for the other half of the game. It's bizarre!

I'm glad the Ravens won. And even though 3 weeks ago I said they would lose... I'm not surprised by the outcome coming out of the bye. I also hope to take 2 out of 3 against the Steelers and Chargers. In reality I think we only win one of those 3. Hopefully we split with the Steelers.

I also think we should beat the Chargers... but it's so hard to tell which team shows up for the Chargers (and us on the road). Is it the Chargers team that we don't match up well with down the field...? Or is it a team that we manhandle and run the ball well against? Bottom line; regardless of that Chargers game, the Steelers look to BACK, and splitting with them would be a positive at this point..

Re: We will go 8-8.

Originally Posted by RedSkins Fury

Well, I'm back to eat my words. I'm not here to change my prediction... I said 8-8. I had the Browns game slated as a loss. And while 8-8 was not very likely if you were a betting man when I said it 3 weeks ago, it's highly unlikely now. We could go 9-7 and more likely 10-6. However, if we somehow lose to the Raiders... 8-8 is still in play. I don't see that happening. I'm predicting a pretty dominating victory. But, there is always that scenario were it close be a game and the Ravens look unimpressive for the majority of the game, outside of a few nice drives. But, I don't see them getting beat by a bad team at home. I just don't understand how this offense can drive the ball 80-90 yards 3 times for TDs, and go 3 and out for the other half of the game. It's bizarre!

I'm glad the Ravens won. And even though 3 weeks ago I said they would lose... I'm not surprised by the outcome coming out of the bye. I also hope to take 2 out of 3 against the Steelers and Chargers. In reality I think we only win one of those 3. Hopefully we split with the Steelers.

I also think we should beat the Chargers... but it's so hard to tell which team shows up for the Chargers (and us on the road). Is it the Chargers team that we don't match up well with down the field...? Or is it a team that we manhandle and run the ball well against? Bottom line; regardless of that Chargers game, the Steelers look to BACK, and splitting with them would be a positive at this point..

You started a 5 page thread about this, and it could have been said in another thread, there was no need to start a thread about it knowing that it was going to stir shit up. There is no way your getting let out of this now.